


If My Time Runs Out

by Actual_Dunwich_Horror



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Gabe's sad about Tyson, Getting Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Pining, Post-Trade, They're just. In love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:10:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22046173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Actual_Dunwich_Horror/pseuds/Actual_Dunwich_Horror
Summary: Gabe shouldn’t have waited.Every day since Canada Day, Gabe has kicked himself for not saying something sooner, for not telling Tyson how he really feels, and it hurts. It hurts knowing that he was too much of a coward. It hurts knowing that Tyson is gone. He’ll be back, sure, but it won’t be the same. He’ll be on a different team from a different country in the wrong colors wearing the wrong number.
Relationships: Tyson Barrie/Gabriel Landeskog
Comments: 3
Kudos: 63





	If My Time Runs Out

**Author's Note:**

  * For [newrules](https://archiveofourown.org/users/newrules/gifts).

> If you found this by googling yourself or someone you know, turn away! This is all fictional.
> 
> A bit of a late present to one of my friends!!! I hope you like this! I'm kinda bad at writing angst, but it was relieving to write some post-trade fic either way! Title is from Wolf Bite by Owl City.
> 
> Enjoy!

Gabe shouldn’t have waited.

Every day since Canada Day, Gabe has kicked himself for not saying something sooner, for not telling Tyson how he really feels, and it hurts. It hurts knowing that he was too much of a coward. It hurts knowing that Tyson is gone. He’ll be back, sure, but it won’t be the same. He’ll be on a different team from a different country in the wrong colors wearing the wrong number. It  _ hurts _ .

Gabe thinks that the feelings will go away at first. He thinks he’ll get over Tyson, but he thinks that  _ every  _ summer. If anything, the trade makes the ache in his chest even worse.

Once the team is back in Denver, Gabe can’t help but notice the big Tyson Barrie shaped hole in the locker room. He’s definitely not the only one who’s feeling the trade either; over the summer, Nate hadn’t responded to any of Gabe’s texts or calls, and seeing him in person only confirms Gabe’s theory that Nate was even more of a mess than himself.

Gabe also makes sure to hug JT and Josty when he sees them; he keeps catching Josty looking around like he’s missing something and it breaks Gabe’s heart.

The new guys fit in pretty well, though, and they give a lot of sympathetic smiles as they watch the new team come together. Gabe’s grateful for it; he’s watched a lot of players come and go and he could only imagine how hard it is to come to a new locker room, a new environment. He does everything he can to make sure that they feel welcome.

So, they play. They get a feel for each other, coming together as a team faster and easier than Gabe could have imagined. The chemistry is incredible, really. It’s almost as if they’d all been on a team together for years, and Gabe couldn’t feel more proud.

He tries to think about Tyson as little as possible, and it’s surprisingly easy with how well they’re playing. The feelings are still there, but now they’re just… not a priority like they used to be.

Until, of course, Gabe is injured.

It’s a fracture, because of course it is, and Gabe is  _ pissed _ . There isn’t anything he can do but let it heal, and it’s frustrating.

He doesn’t travel with the team, but he does watch their home games, and it takes a few weeks for it to hit him--

The Leafs are coming.

Tyson will be there. He’ll be able to see Tyson for the first time since the summertime.

And it’ll hurt more than his damn foot.

Gabe starts to dread it. It’s not that he doesn’t want to see Tyson, but… he has to confront his feelings that haven’t gone away. In fact, the realization that Tyson will be in Denver makes Gabe’s feelings come back in  _ full force _ .

He has to say something. He can’t let his feelings sit or stew any longer, especially since he thought he had a chance with Tyson. He has to get closure or else it’ll start to eat him alive like it did the past few seasons.

Gabe essentially writes a script, reading it over and over, reciting it in his head as he does nothing but  _ wait  _ for that emotional Saturday night.

He can hardly sleep the night before the game, and he’s an anxious mess the moment he arrives at the Pepsi Center. The rest of the team must be feeling it too; the locker room is a lot quieter than usual as they gear up for their off-ice warm ups.

Nate’s gone, though, and Gabe knows exactly where he is.

So, he makes his way to the hallway outside of the visiting locker room, and finds Tyson and Nate, bright smiles spread across their faces. Seeing Tyson’s crooked smile hits Gabe right in the heart, and it takes everything in him to not turn around and walk away.

He takes a few steps towards them, and suddenly Tyson notices him, face lighting up.

“Gabe! Holy shit!” He shouts, running up to Gabe. He stops short, though, when he notices the boot on Gabe’s foot.

“Is it safe to give you a hug? I don’t wanna break you,” He asks, and Gabe feels his cheeks go red as he opens his arms.

“Come on, I’m not  _ that  _ fragile,” Gabe manages to get out before Tyson basically throws himself at Gabe, wrapping his arms around Gabe’s shoulders and hugging him tight.

“I’ve missed you, Landesnerd,” He mumbles, and Gabe laughs. If there’s one thing he hasn’t missed about Tyson, it’s his nicknames.

“I’ve missed you too, Tys.” He says, patting Tyson’s back. 

Nate suddenly laughs from somewhere behind Tyson. “Jesus Tys, don’t suffocate him!”

“I’m not suffocating him!” Tyson yells in response, tightening his hold on Gabe. “If anything, I’m replenishing him. He’s probably been going through Barrie withdrawals!”

The sad thing is, Tyson wasn’t wrong in the slightest.

Pretty soon, Tyson’s let go of Gabe, and the three of them take a moment to catch up, talking about their new teammates and life in general.

When Nate leaves, though, Tyson goes silent, and Gabe feels himself freeze up. He should say something to Tyson. He  _ has  _ to say something to Tyson. Would that throw Tyson’s game off? That felt unfair to Gabe. Maybe it would be more fair to tell him afterwards, but--

“Gabe, quit thinking so hard. Your big head looks like it’s going to explode.” Tyson is joking, like he usually does, but he’s looking at Gabe with a surprisingly serious look on his face, and Gabe has to take a breath before he responds.

“Sorry, it’s just… It’s so good to see you, Tys.”

“Something’s on your mind, though. I can tell.”

“Since when were you observant?” Gabe asks, a bit more harsh than he meant.

“You’re not very hard to read, Gabe. I know we’re not on the same team anymore, but… You know you can always talk to me, right?” Tyson says quietly, taking a step towards Gabe. “We’re still friends, right?”

“Of course we’re still friends, I just--I can’t.” Gabe suddenly feels like he’s about to break down, and everything he’s written flies out the window at the hurt expression that Tyson gives him.

“You can’t… you can’t what, Gabe?”

“I’m in love with you, Tyson.”

He wants to slap himself as soon as he says it. He really, really didn’t mean to just blurt it out like that, but what’s done is done. There’s no way he can go back, and he braces himself for the worst.

After a moment, Tyson asks shakily, “Do you really mean that? Even after we haven’t seen each other?”

“I do, yeah. I’m--I’m sorry if--”

“Shut up, Gabe.” Tyson orders, and it’s shocking enough that Gabe immediately snaps his jaw shut. Tyson’s face has gone red, and Gabe can’t tell if it’s out of anger or embarrassment or  _ what. _ “Do you know how long I’ve wanted to tell you the same thing?”

Gabe freezes. “You… what?”

“You really didn’t notice? I was… pretty obvious.” Tyson runs a hand through his curls-- he always did that when he was nervous-- and Gabe realizes that, holy shit, Tyson really  _ was  _ flirting with him that whole time.

“I should’ve said something sooner, fuck,” Gabe sighs. “Maybe we could’ve actually had something.”

Tyson smiles, small and hopeful, and warmth blooms in Gabe’s chest. “Well… I know we won’t get to see each other as often as we used to, but… we could still try? Because I’m--I’m willing to try if you are.”

Gabe really hadn’t thought of that. Of course he’s still going to see Tyson. They play each other twice a year. There’s the bye week. Holidays. The All Star break. The off season. There’s plenty of time for them to be together, and Gabe just… didn’t see it. Didn’t think it would be something that Tyson wanted now that they’re on separate teams.

“You have no idea how happy that would make me, oh my god. But just--”

“Just what?” Tyson asks with a quirk of his eyebrow.

Gabe can’t help but grin, and he definitely can’t help the fuzzy feeling in his stomach. They’ll definitely need to have, like, a  _ real  _ conversation about this at some point, but for now, this is more than Gabe could’ve hoped for.

“Just. I’m so happy. I want to try and make it work.”

Tyson reaches out and threads his fingers with Gabe’s, and Gabe feels  _ giddy _ at the fact that they’re holding hands. “Me too, Gabe. I didn’t picture things starting out like this, but… it’s fitting.”

“It really is, isn’t it?”

Gabe doesn’t want to leave Tyson, but he has to so that Tyson can actually go do his job. He can’t help but feel lighter and happier as he walks back to his own locker room, and once he’s returned, he sees that everyone seems to be back to normal. It must’ve been Nate; if anyone was going through Barrie withdrawals, it was him.

So, Gabe promises to talk to Tyson. It may have to be through facetime, but honestly, he’ll take what he can get. They’ll talk things out, figure out where they want to take things, and it’ll go great.

For now, though, Gabe’s just going to watch the man he loves play against the team he calls his family, and he’ll be proud of them both no matter the turnout.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are much appreciated. 
> 
> Come hang out with me on tumblr @trans-parayko or on twitter @GreatSaveGrubi!


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